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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the team needs to investigate why it is losing time to Mercedes on the straights, despite both using Mercedes power units. Stella said: "The 30% happening in the straights, it might have to do with some additional aerodynamic drag that we have on our car, but we are also looking at the way we exploit the power unit, because the speed deficit is quite significant. You will be able to see that, for instance, there's probably one-and-a-half tenths, one tenth at least, that we lose in the straights, and definitely we need to go and look into why that is the case."
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have warned that Silverstone could expose a key limitation in F1âs current hybrid energy deployment, with long flat-out sections offering fewer chances to recover electrical energy through braking. Verstappen said he âjust started laughingâ after simulator laps, adding: âYou barely have battery around the lap⌠itâs just constantly flat⌠Itâs going to be a tough one.â Hamilton agreed the circuit has âlots of deployment, and not many places to recover the powerâ, but added: âMaybe the deficit wonât be as big⌠hard to say.â
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown says he would sign Max Verstappen if he had an extra seat available, but insists Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are staying put despite speculation linking the four-time world champion with a move. Brown said: "Well, I've got two awesome racing drivers, so if I had a third car, I'd sign them in a heartbeat. Lando and Oscar have their names engraved on their race seat, and they haven't emptied out their lockers, so they're not going anywhere. No, I don't have a seat available. If a seat was available, then of course you have that conversation."
The 2026 British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone is forecast to be warm and largely dry throughout. Fridayâs sessions are set for around 26°C under partly cloudy skies with a 2% rain chance, while Saturday should be hotter at about 27°C with similarly negligible precipitation but a stronger west-northwesterly wind of up to 23km/h. Sundayâs race is expected to stay dry as well, with temperatures near 26°C and a 7% chance of rain, plus lighter south-westerly winds.
Lando Norris said Formula 1 drivers are not in a position to comment on other teamsâ development approaches and budget-cap constraints after Fernando Alonso questioned rivalsâ upgrade strategies. Norris said: "I think the drivers talk too much. They don't have a Scooby-Doo. They're not the accountants. They don't really know how it works. So I don't think people can talk about other teams."
Fernando Alonso says Formula 1 is âstill appealingâ and insisted he will not give up on Aston Martinâs project despite the team having scored just one point after nine rounds. Alonso said: "So, all cars are fast and fun, but Formula 1 is very unique and still the pinnacle of motorsport and still appealing. I never gave up, and I will not give up now for some difficulties, and some slow start. If someone thinks that we will give up now, they don't know the last 25 years of my life."
Max Verstappen says Red Bull still has âtoo many issuesâ to mount a realistic championship challenge, despite taking second place at the Austrian Grand Prix. Verstappen said: "I think for us we had very good pace, but I think to fight for a title we need to be more all-around. I think we still have too many issues, if that's from a start to just procedural issues in the background that even I think you guys don't know about, but I know about. I think we just need to be a little bit more all-around still."
Esteban Ocon says he is not worried about speculation over his Haas future because the team knows the reasons behind his points deficit to team-mate Oliver Bearman this season. Ocon said: "I need to focus on the job. As a driver, the performance on track is what I need to be taking care of. Obviously, we have bigger problems with the car at the moment than that. There will always be talks when people look at the picture, [but] when you look deep inside, and knowing why I don't have many points this year, and all of these things, well it gets more clear."
Esteban Ocon says Haas must focus on getting his VF-26 âhealthyâ as well as improving overall performance after he again struggled with a lack of rear downforce at the Austrian Grand Prix. Esteban Ocon said: "I think there's two issues: getting my car healthy and the overall performance, because even if Ollie's car is healthy, we're still missing some performance. So yeah, struggling with a lot with the same things. And we'll keep pushing hard in Silverstone, and hopefully the problem will go away."
Oliver Bearman warned Haas could lose out to its midfield rivals if it does not increase its rate of development, after he finished 14th at the Austrian Grand Prix. Bearman said: "They've bought more upgrades, and they've bought more effective upgrades as well. So, they've made a big step forward and we haven't. That's it."
Oscar Piastri says McLaren need âmore overall performance and gripâ if they are to challenge the top three consistently, after he finished fourth at the Austrian Grand Prix. Piastri said: "However, we still need to find more pace if we want to be up there challenging the top three consistently. We don't have a specific area of weakness; we just need more overall performance and grip to take that next step. We'll keep chipping away at it, and we'll focus on carrying this momentum into the next few races."
Lando Norris said he âfelt badâ for Ferrari after being surprised by how much they struggled for pace in the Austrian Grand Prix, having qualified second and third but finished fifth and eighth at the Red Bull Ring. Lando Norris said: "I would say the pace seemed to be a little bit better than we probably expected into Sunday, but the shock was Ferrari today struggling so much. So, to be honest, I feel bad for them. I mean, when you have no power, you have to push like hell in the straights and in the corners, and you can't do that with these kinds of tyres."
Lewis Hamilton says Red Bull will be a âforce to be reckoned withâ in the coming races after shedding an estimated 9kg from its RB22 with an upgrade at the Austrian Grand Prix. Hamilton said: "They made a huge step this weekend, and I think they must have brought a three-to-four tenth upgrade. Three-tenths was just from the weight that they dropped from the car, which is huge considering they were so close in some of the races, like Monaco, and they were nine kilos overweight. It is a good showing that they've got a good car, and they've lost the weight and then brought lots of upgrades; they're going to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming races."
Toto Wolff says Mercedes want to keep their current driver line-up of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, ruling out Max Verstappen replacing Russell for the 2027 season amid ongoing speculation about the Red Bull driverâs future. Wolff said: "Yeah, we don't want to change things, and I've also said to George that I think it's a lineup that is good for us. We're very happy with the two of them."
Lando Norris says there is âonly one placeâ he would ever be interested in going if he left McLaren, but insisted it would be âin the distant futureâ when asked on the Beyond the Grid podcast whether he sees himself as a one-team driver. Norris said: "If there's any place I want to go, there's only one place, that's it. There's only one place I would ever be interested in, but that's very, very in the distant future."
Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey says the team began the season âon the back footâ and it felt like âeverything that could go wrong, did go wrongâ after power unit problems left it short of meaningful running before the Australian Grand Prix. Newey said: "Melbourne was the wakeâup call. Because of various power unit challenges, our first proper running was actually Free Practice Three at the Australian Grand Prix. Before that, in Barcelona and at the two Bahrain tests, we spent too much time in the garage just trying to get the power unit to run correctly with the chassis and gearbox. You know the idiom, 'it never rains, but it pours', and this is one of those classic cases where it felt like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong."
Aston Martin managing technical partner Adrian Newey says the team will bring its first upgrade package of 2026 to the car in Hungary, with a major aerodynamic revision and significant weight reduction. Newey said: "We plan to introduce our upgrade in Hungary on both cars. The main structural elements remain the same â the chassis and gearbox architecture don't fundamentally change â but we've taken weight out of both, which required re-homologating and crash testing the forward chassis. We've developed a new nose and substantially revised aerodynamic surfaces. So, while the core structure is similar, it's a big aerodynamic package coupled with significant weight reduction."
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